Unity (episode)
:For the Deep Space Nine relaunch novel, see "Unity" Chakotay is trapped and injured on a world where the inhabitants randomly attack each other, but the people who rescue and care for him harbor a disturbing secret. Summary *''First Officer's log, stardate 50614.2. Ensign Kaplan and I are returning to Voyager, after completing a scouting mission in the Nekrit Expanse. '' While attempting to find a faster way through the Nekrit Expanse, Commander Chakotay and Ensign Kaplan pick up a signal buoy with a Federation signature. As they get closer, they hear a distress call from the planet. When they land their shuttlecraft on the planet, they come under fire from hostiles. Kaplan is killed by the unknown foes while Chakotay is left injured. Soon, another group comes, and scares the hostiles off. He wakes up to find himself in a room where he sees a woman by the name of Riley Frazier. Chakotay soon learns about Riley and the others: they were attacked by aliens, some killed and others put in stasis. They woke up on this planet, along with several Romulans and Klingons. All were grabbed from where they were. One group of them attacked Chakotay and Kaplan, and Frazier's group saved him. She is part of a cooperative. *''Captain's log, stardate 50622.4. While Commander Chakotay scouts for a faster route through the Nekrit Expanse, we are continuing our month-long journey through the sparsely populated region. '' After an otherwise eventful journey, Voyager discovers a Borg cube, which appears to be disabled. Janeway decides to board the ship, since it is a rare opportunity to understand their technology. Chakotay continues to learn about the cooperative. Frazier describes that she has put down roots here. When she goes to work on the communications array, and Chakotay wants to help, she refuses, saying he is took weak to work. Meanwhile, Captain Janeway's away team boarded the Borg ship. As far as they could tell, all activity ceased 5 years ago, and they couldn't tell why. It is postulated that either an accident or an attack from a more powerful species disabled the Borg ship. At the same time, Chakotay manages to break in out of the rook where he was being kept. A vast plant is revealed, and all of the individuals have implants like Borg drones. Frazier reveals that they were once Borg drones, many taken from Wolf 359, but an attack broke their link with the hive mind. Realizing how far they were from Federation space, they learned how to survive and cooperate with each other. *''Captain's log, supplemental. We've detected a message buoy, launched from Chakotay's shuttle, and are heading toward it. The autopsy of the Borg corpse is under way. '' The autopsy of the Borg corpse concludes that the Borg was electrocuted and suffocated in space. But when the doctor tries activating an Axonal Amplifier with a Cortical Probe, the Borg sits up, almost giving everyone a heart attack. B'Ellana concludes that this caused the Borg to reset to its original programming, meaning that the other corpses could also be reactivated. Due to the blast Chakotay took early on, he soon gets worse. One of the former Borg drones, a Romulan, tells the him if he does not let them help him he will die before Voyager arrives. The help is using a neural link to help heal Chakotay's injuries. Chakotay is more than reluctant, but finally agrees when he sees no other alternative. During this experience he sees many of their memories and their thoughts. It is a powerful and enlightening experience for him, and it does in fact help his neural damage. Meanwhile, Voyager arrives at the planet. When the inhabitants detect it, Frazier tries to persuade Captain Janeway to assist in re-establishing the link for the entire population permanently. Specifically, they want the Voyager team to re-activate the neuro-electric generator on the Borg ship so there is enough energy to do so. Chakotay advises her to do it, because he is sure they have no evil intent, but Janeway still sees it as too dangerous. After Voyager has delivered them much needed supplies, the inhabitants use the link to get Chakotay to reactivate the generator aboard the abandoned Borg ship, directly violating his orders. He activates the link just after being shot by the Voyager rescue team's attempt to stop him. When it is activated, it links the all the inhabitants' thoughts together, putting an end to the violence as predicted. However, the power also activates the Borg ship and its hostile inhabitants. The rescue team sent to intercept Chakotay, along with Chakotay himself, are beamed aboard Voyager. The planet's inhabitants manage to cause the Borg ship's self-destruct sequence before it gained weapon capabilities. Within three seconds the ship exploded. However the inhabitants retain their collective state, and offer Voyager their lasting gratitude. In the end, Chakotay discusses the situation with Janeway, and questions how long the inhabitants can retain a sense of morality amidst the power of a collective; it didn't take them long to use Chakotay against his will for their motives. She doesn't know either. Memorable Quotes "Well at least someone knows where we are." : - Chakotay Background Information * This episode featured flashback scenes from TNG: "Q Who", DS9: "Emissary", "The Way of the Warrior", and VOY: "Caretaker". * The inspiration for this episode comes from DS9: "Hippocratic Oath," in which a rogue group of Jem'Hadar soldiers are stranded on a backwater planet and attempt to free themselves from their addiction to ketracel-white. * The events of this episode are later referenced in the fourth season episode "Scorpion, Part II", where the attackers of the Borg cube are revealed to be Species 8472. * This is the last episode to be set inside in the Nekrit Expanse through which the crew have been travelling since the events of "Fair Trade". Links and References Main Cast *Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway *Robert Beltran as Chakotay *Roxann Dawson as B'Elanna Torres *Jennifer Lien as Kes *Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris *Ethan Phillips as Neelix *Robert Picardo as The Doctor *Tim Russ as Tuvok *Garrett Wang as Harry Kim Guest Stars *Lori Hallier as Riley Frazier *Ivar Brogger as Orum Co-Stars *Susan Patterson as Marie Kaplan *Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited) *Steve Carnahan as William McKenzie (uncredited) References access node, asteroid field, axonal amplifier, barbecue; bluebonnet, Bolian sector, Borg, Borg Cooperative, Cardassians, communications array, cordical probe, data node, distress call, electrodynamic turbulence, electro-mechanical discharge, Farn, Federation hailing beacon, happy hunting grounds, hive mind, hoverball, Humans, hyper spanner, Klingons, message buoy, micro-power conduit, multiphasic scan, Nekrit Expanse, neural processor, neural transceiver, neural trauma, neuroelectric energy, neuroelectric field, neuroelectric field generator, neuroelectric power cell, neuropeptide, neuro-tranceiver, neuro-transponder, optical scanners, Parein, prosthetic arm, Romulans, self-destruct sequence, "subspace transfusion", telepathic receptivity, Texas, vegetarian, warp plasma filter, Wolf 359, Wolf 359, Battle of Starship references Borg cube, Klingon Bird-of-Prey, ''K't'inga''-class, ''Melbourne'', USS, ''Roosevelt'', USS, ''Saratoga'', USS, type-9 shuttlecraft, ''Vor'cha''-class Category:VOY episodes de:Die Kooperative nl:Unity